OK, ok don't kill me when you read the chapter!!!

The Epiloge will be all happy ok!?

Thanks to:

TFSTARFIRE - Lol, yup. He gets killed.

Stesuna the Dragon - Aah! I hope you like this one!!!

Chapter 26

Farewell

All was still, both factions anticipating the coming battle. Red optics met blue in a mental struggle, each thriving on the heat of battle. Suddenly, with a silent signal, Barricade, Rumble, and a new foe, well at least to Nexia, jumped at them from behind the trees. They caught the Autobots by surprise; the four Decepticons may be small in numbers but they make up for it with stealth and brute strength.

"Surprised, Autoscum? I bet you thought that they defected, didn't you?" he cruelly laughed, waving the shimmering necklace in front of the Autobots' faces. Ratchet had to pinch a sensitive wire in his arm in order no to rush forward, lest he acted hastily. Any rash action may cost Nexia her life. The jet laughed at the look on the Autobot medic's face, thinking that the medic was scared for his own life. Oh, how wrong Starscream was.

In a flash Barricade attacked Bumblebee, causing him to buckle his legs in order to stay standing. The Decepticon was far from being light. Nexia stifled a gasp; glad that Hound had coerced her into wearing Earthy colors - browns and greens. Bumblebee was ready for the attack, however, and managed to throw the imitation cop from his shoulders. They rumbled on, Bumblebee being careful not to step on the winged girl hiding within the grass.

"Oh, ho, ho. You think you can best me, Autochum?" Barricade snarled, showing a row of razor sharp teeth. He charged at the yellow scout once again, laughing mercilessly as one of his rotating blades nicked Bumblebee's shoulder. Nexia gasped, quickly slapping a hand over her mouth in horror. She sunk back into the grass, dismissing her wings as she went in order to blend in with the Earth more easily. She didn't want to break her promise to Ratchet but if Bumblebee was hurt once more she would step in.

"C'mon, lugnut. Lets see what you can do!" Bumblebee shouted back, angered. Normally he would have used his radio to communicate but when he was angered he would use his true voice. Nexia snorted into the ground, once again having to cover her mouth in order for her not to be noticed. She wiggled around in the cold dirt, rolling to her left to hide behind a tree. She narrowly missed a being crushed by Barricade's foot, squeaking lightly when the ground vibrated. Her eyes were wide when she realized yet again how close she was to death.

"Insolent fool. The Decepticons will rein supreme!" the black and white copy cop sneered in Bumblebee's direction, slashing at him once again with his rotating saws. He was unaware that Nexia had managed to climb the tree, causing Bumblebee's optics to widen, and had also managed to create a bow and arrow set made of fire. Her powers were growing and surprising her every day. The winged girl nodded at the yellow scout, drawing the chord of the bow back at the same time Bumblebee charged up his energy shot.

"You can't defeat…" Barricade paused, an unfamiliar white hot sensation of pain shooting up his back. Suddenly, Bumblebee let the plasma from the shot he was saving up erupt, driving deep within Barricade's spark chamber.

"Me…?" the black and white Decepticon finished, optics fading as his spark extinguished in on itself. The mech fell forward, causing poor Bumblebee to yelp as the corpse of the Decepticon almost landed on the yellow scout. Bumblebee smirked, flashing a peace sign at the girl in the tree. She laughed, almost slipping from the branch, before laughing in embarrassment. Nexia had little to no balance without her wings.

Ratchet smiled softly at the happiness that emitted from his spark mate. It was high time that she smile like that again - a smile full of happiness instead of one full of despair. He turned and stalked towards the other three battles, making sure that Barricade was truly dead before leaving Nexia in the care of Bumblebee.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had their hands full with a new opponent who had attacked them from underneath the ground. The enemy took the guise of a scorpion, pincers snipping dangerously in the air. His tail was equipped with one large stinger, dripping with Cyber Venom. The lone large stinger split into three smaller ones, each flashing ludicrously in the sunlight.

"Oh, come now. Its wittle Scorpy." Sunstreaker taunted, wagging a finger in the direction of the Decepticon. He snatched it back almost as quickly as he pointed it, fearful squeaks emitting from his vocal processor when Scorponok almost bit it off. Sideswipe's laughter rang through the air as he smirked, the yellow assassin's glare penetrating Sideswipe's field of vision. He couldn't help but chuckle at the expression on his brother's facial plates.

"Hey…bro? Remind me why Prowler isn't here again?" Sideswipe asked, bringing out his energon knife. The red mech jumped on top of the Cybertronian Scorpion's back as his twin distracted him.

"Already loosing your memory chips? Someone needs to keep an eye on the base." the yellow-golden warrior grunted, shooting at the flailing mech's side. He averted Scorponok's attention from his younger brother while Sideswipe hacked and mutilated the scorpion's left claw. He shrieked in agony before digging a hole and diving into the Earth, successfully concealing himself from the twin menaces.

"But I thought that Hound was watching the base!" Sideswipe gasped as the deceitful scorpion exploded from the ground, landing on the stumbling red mech's back. He was aware of his brother shouting his name before Scorponok's tail pierced through his chest plating. Sunstreaker ripped the small annoyance from the red mech's back, effectively mangling the Decepticon's tail as he did so. Thankfully the evil twit of a scorpion didn't have enough time to inject any of his deadly Cyber Venom; it was deadly and could freeze an Autobots' system

"Thanks, bro." the red mech ground out as he covered the wound. Only minutes later Ratchet was by their side, wagging a finger in their faces as he scolded them for running off.

"No prob. Anyway, Hound had to stay behind to look after Wheeljack. Didn't want the base to go boom, huh?" Sunstreaker snickered, causing his brother to snicker as well.

"No moving!" the older mech exclaimed as he smacked the back of the red warrior's helm with his trusty wrench.

"Ouch! You didn't have to hit me!" Sideswipe yelped, instinctively ducking. The older mech glared at the smaller form, throwing up his hands, and shaking a fist at him.

"Oh, yes I did. You would have moved, thus causing even MORE damage to your mainframe!" Ratchet sighed exasperated. Sideswipe blinked at him before protesting even louder.

"Well, yeah, but you didn't have to hit me with a fragging wrench! Those things hurt!" the red warrior whined, earning a chuckle from his brother.

"I give up! You're finished so get out of here." the medic sighed, preparing himself to aid the others if they needed him. He turned his attention to the battle between Optimus, Ironhide, and Starscream; Rumble was left in a smoking heap near the bottom of the tree in which Nexia was hiding.

Optimus and Ironhide were each worse for wear - each of them sporting different kinds of wounds. The Autobot leader growled, berating himself for not being able to gain Nexia's spark sooner. He glanced towards Ironhide, glad hat he had at least one other mech to help him fight against the crafty Decepticon. He nodded slightly, just enough for Ironhide to catch the hidden meaning.

"Are you going to trade the spark Starscream? The others are dead." Optimus said, glancing around to make sure that his comment was factual. He spotted Ratchet not too far off as he sighed, relieved to see that the medic was actually there. Now he could be confident that he would be fixed if his attempt failed.

"No… I don't think I will. Give me the Allspark shard!" the Decepticon exclaimed, twirling the spark's chain around his finger. He was unaware that Ironhide was sneaking up behind hid until the great black mech had wrapped his arm around the Decepticon's throat. Ironhide smirked as Starscream froze. The jet blanched for a second before he smirked as well, grasping the crystal itself in his hand.

"You want this? Then since you refuse me what I want then you can have it in pieces!" he screeched, raising his fist. It was in slow motion; Optimus and Ratchet lunged towards Starscream while the jet shook out of Ironhide's grasp. He then took the stone and crushed it, shards flying through his fist.

"NO! No…no…I'LL KILL YOU!!" Ratchet whispered, volume increasing with each word. He shot past the two frozen Autobots, pouncing upon Starscream and tearing at the exposed wiring. Ironhide and Optimus winced at the death of the once fine warrior. Soon, the mangled head rolled by as an exhausted medic flew past them with only one destination in mind.

The yellow scout crooned sadly as he cradled the still form of the winged girl against his chassis. Her wings reappeared suddenly as she stiffened and fell from the tree. Her eyes closed and her breathing and heart rate became dangerously slow. He crooned again, encouraged the girl to stay awake until Ratchet came

Thundering footsteps were heard, causing Bumblebee to turn his head. Suddenly, Ratchet had slid to a stop on his knees next to the pair. He activated his holoform, taking the still form of the winged girl away from the scout and cradling her against his own chest. Tears fell from his electric blue eyes, one finally hitting the space between her own eyes. Her shimmering orbs fluttered open as she weakly smiled, drawing in another shuddering breath.

"We never had a chance to have children…" he cried softly, burying his face in the crook of her neck. She weakly drew a shaking hand up to his face, cupping his cheek in it. Little did they know that Primus was watching over them, silently mourning the tragedy of the couple.

"Hush, love. If you love me, as I do you, then I already have your spark." she whispered, fluttering her eyes closed again. Her skin was turning paler and the small group of Autobots knew that it would not be long before she passed on. Energon tears ran down the soldiers' faces as they watched the scene between the two ill-fated lovers.

"Oh, Primus, please don't die, Nex. If you die than I'll die as well. You are my everything." Ratchet pleaded raising his head and nuzzling the hand that was cradled against his cheek. One of his larger hands covered her smaller one, pressing it against his cheek as he nuzzled it. She laughed softly before she forced her eyes open again.

"Everyone must eventually pass on. Even though it is not what we desire we will always be remembered in the hearts of others. Please…promise me that you'll live on and not forget about me…" she whispered, smiling softly up at the bawling medic. He bit his bottom lip and nodded his head, crying out when she went limp.

She closed her eyes for the final time as Ratchet scanned her body, pressing his face against her chest when he felt no signal - no emotion from their bond. He felt empty inside - like there was a hole where a vibrant feeling of joy once spread. Finally he lifted his head and picked up the body of his once spark mate, carefully setting her in the back of his vehicle mode.

"She's gone." he said to the others before dismissing his holoform and headed off towards the base. It was a quiet ride - nothing like when Nexia's vibrant talk and laughter filled his cab. When he got back to the base he bypassed the four mechs waiting for him, immediately heading for the Medical bay. He planned on dressing her in her favorite outfit and placing her where all the Autobots could mourn her in peace.

The four mechs swarmed Optimus when he returned, eager for some answers. They dreaded the answer, however, when his optics threatened to spill with Energon tears once again. He only shook his head, leaving the four unsuspecting mechs devastated, with tears threatening to spill over their own optics.

Sideswipe had silent tears running down his facial plates while Sunstreaker stood in his place - stunned. He never thought that something like this could ever occur. He thought that they could gain Nexia's spark back but it went the complete opposite of how it played out in his processor. His mind wandered as they walked through the halls of the Autobot base. Optimus had finally given the order to execute the traitorous femme. Technically it was her fault that Nexia was…gone.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had volunteered to execute the one who had caused all their problems as the others were too emotionally distressed. Plus, Sunstreaker wanted to cause some severe pain to the one who had inadvertently killed his angel.

They banged open the doors to the prison hold, startling the now once again dusty blue-green femme. She smirked up at them, sneering into their faces as Sunstreaker threw open the door to her cell. One stride in and he grasped her by her throat, one large hand wrapping around her dainty wires. She did the human equivalent of a cough; her air intakes were seizing up as Sunstreaker squeezed his hand.

"You fragger. Because of you she's dead." he growled, optics glowing an eerie icy blue color. He began squeezing the femme's neck, ignoring the pleading that was emitting from her vocal processor. Sideswipe was standing towards the back of the cell, providing a sort of backup if she should break from his brother's grasp.

"So? She's an organic…you shouldn't care about someone like her…" Moonracer wheezed, causing Sunstreaker's hand to grip the rest of the way. That effectively crushed her vocal chords…but she was still alive.

"She may be an organic but we still loved her!" the yellow warrior yelled, stabbing through the metal next to her spark chamber. The dusty blue-green femme shouted out in pain as she glared at the mech. The yellow warrior glared at the femme again before he took hold of her arm, twisting it and ripping it from her body.

He finally stabbed her in the dusty blue femme's optics powered down as her spark extinguished, letting the yellow warrior know that she was finally executed. A hand was placed upon Sunstreaker's shoulder as he turned, hugging his twin and crying out. Tears finally fell down his facial plates as the battle hardened mech finally let his emotions escape from his hard protective case.

"She didn't deserve to die!" he wailed, as his brother patted him on the back, tears flowing down his own face.

"I know…I know…" Sideswipe crooned, consoling the yellow twin in his time of need.

The medic carefully washed the body of his lover, making sure that every feather was in place. The rest of the vibrant color on each feather was replaced by varying shades of white and silver - which puzzled the medic.

He was true to his word and dressed her in a soft, silver Chinese style dress. It was short sleeved and was complete with a black sash that wrapped around her arms. It was sad that it now matched her wings when it used to only look good on her. He activated his holoform and kneeled down next to her still, and now cold, body. Her wings were tucked neatly underneath her body and her hair was brushed and braided, lying gently upon her shoulder.

Ratchet touched his forehead to hers and kissed her once warm lips, a tear trailing down his nose and onto her lips, traveling between them and into her mouth. He went to wipe her lips clean of the salty solution but her body suddenly jerked up, glowing bright silver. The light was too much for his holoform's eyes to take so he was forced to avert them. Finally when the light died down he was able to look back at her body. Or at least where her body once was.

"Nexia!!" the panicked medic exclaimed, rushing towards where her body once lied. There was nothing that indicated that she was even there - the covers from the cot were undisturbed. He sank down to his knees, forced to accept that she was gone from his life forever.

"Primus, please bring her back to me…" he whispered as he sat with his back against the wall, knees brought up to his chest, and buried his face within the darkness.